Tech Stock Dividends,
Once Puny, Might Grow

The reluctance of technology companies to pay decent dividends could change now that payouts benefit from more favorable treatment under the tax code.

The average dividend yield of technology stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is just 0.4%. In fact, the tech group has the lowest dividend rate among the index's 10 sectors. The overall S&P 500 now yields 1.7%.